MegaMan Legends 2
by lord-of-all-kobuns
Summary: A novelization of one of my favorite games of all time. I wrote this so that both people who have played the games and people who haven't can enjoy this. Please review and tell me how I'm doing.
1. Thy Unveiling

_**Disclaimer**: This is a fanwork, created to show love towards a particular game in a series that is near and dear to my heart. I do not presume to claim ownership on the concepts, characters, situations, or indeed most of the dialogue in this novelization. All that belongs to Capcom. The descriptions, and quite a lot of dialogue is all mine, though._

_Enjoy the show._

**MegaMan Legends 2**

A Novelization

_By_

_Matthew Jessup_

**CHAPTER 1: Thy Unveiling**

The conditions were perfect. The sky was blue, the air was clear, and the day was silent but for the low, dull rumble that the Sulphur-Bottom made as it cut through the sky.

The Sulphur-Bottom was a large gray airship, constructed to find the Mother Lode, a legendary treasure that people had been hunting for centuries. The ship was constructed by renowned explorer Werner Von Bluecher. Bluecher may have been one of the millions to attempt to find the treasure, but he was the only one with the resources needed to go this far.

The Mother Lode was rumored to be hidden on Forbidden Island, an apt name for an island that was near-impossible to return from alive. While many had gone, few had returned, falling victim to the biting cold and ever-present blizzards that marked the island. Only two men had ever returned from the island, and they were the ones heading this expedition.

Inside the Sulphur-Bottom stood Professor Barrel Caskett, a longtime friend and rival of Bluecher's. Barrel was an old man, with full white beard and no hair. Half of his head was covered with a dark grey metal plate, remnant of something that had happened in his distant past. He stared out of the window for a few seconds before picking up an old photograph and sighing.

The photograph was a picture of his long-lost daughter, her husband, and their daughter. Matilda and Banner had set out to Forbidden Island, just like so many others. And, just like the others, they had never returned, leaving Roll in the care of her grandfather. The subjects in the picture were smiling, not knowing the horrors that were in store for their future.

"Barrel?"

A voice behind Barrel made him jump. He looked over his shoulder to see the tall form of Werner Von Bluecher strolling towards him. Von Bluecher was approximately the same age as Barrel, but unlike Barrel, Von Bluecher still had the light of youthfulness in his eye. Time had been much kinder to him than to many people his age.

He reached Barrel's side and glanced at the picture in his hand.

"Hard to believe it's been ten years since your daughter and son-in-law were lost here." Von Bluecher said, staring out the window at the swirling white clouds below.

"What were they thinking?" Barrel sighed. "Leaving their daughter behind, coming to such a dangerous place…"

He paused.

"Are you sure you don't want to change your mind? Do you really want to go back?"

"It's too late to turn back now," Bluecher replied. "I've spent my whole life working towards this. I'm not going to stop now. I couldn't live with myself if I did."

"Mr. Werner Von Bluecher! Mr. Werner Von Bluecher! Please report to the central hall!" A voice on the intercom interrupted their conversation.

"That time already," Von Bluecher said, turning away from the window. "Well, I'll go on ahead. I guess Roll decided not to come?"

Barrel gave a start.

"Huh? Oh, oh yes," he said, tearing his thoughts away from the sad memories of the past. "She and Rock are on the Flutter. She's a little upset at the possibility of someone finding the Mother Lode before she does. After all, she's been searching for it all her life."

"I've always been fond of Roll, you know that," Von Bluecher smiled. "But, as they say, all's fair in love and war!"

He left the room. Barrel stared out the window at the swirling storm that marked Forbidden Island, before sighing and following his companion.

---

The press was gathered in a large group, all wanting to report on this historic event. The general air in the room was that of excitement and anticipation, with just a slight hint of fear. The main hall was one of the largest areas on the ship, with a wooden stage at the front of the room that stood in front of large bay windows. The windows were currently covered in metal shutters, blocking the outside view from the press.

A security guard marched up to Von Bluecher as he entered the crowded hall.

"Nothing to report, sir!" the security guard said, snapping to a salute.

"Good," Von Bluecher replied. "Keep your eyes peeled. If any pirates show up, I want them dealt with immediately! Nothing is going to ruin this, not if I can help it."

"Yes sir!" the guard shouted, snapping to salute again. Von Bluecher winced, and surreptitiously massaged his ear.

He and Barrel walked to the podium. Twenty reporters at once were introducing the press conference to their respective stations.

"Nobody has journeyed to Forbidden Island and returned to tell the tale…"

"But today, two men who have devoted their lives to studying that infamous island…"

"…will attempt to land there and retrieve the legendary Mother Lode…"

"Did you have to call so many reporters?" Barrel groaned to Von Bluecher.

"This is an important event," Von Bluecher muttered. "The more the merrier."

"You haven't changed," Barrel replied, but there was a hint of a smile in his voice. "Just try not to make a fool of yourself - or me!"

A hush fell over the crowd as the reporters finished their introductions and Von Bluecher stepped up to the mic. He cleared his throat.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the press, thank you for your patience," he said in his best orator voice, his words echoing throughout the chamber. "I would like to give you a brief description of our planned expedition…"

In the midst of the crowd, a dashing blonde-haired young man attired in a brown suit silently stepped up to a group of what seemed to be reporters.

"Now, what do you think you're doing here?" he quietly asked a silver-haired man with a ponytail. "I thought you had gotten out of the pirate game."

"Stuff it, Glyde!" the man whispered angrily, not taking his eyes off of Von Bluecher. "We've got enough problems as it is!"

"What, did your little department store go under already?" Glyde asked, smiling.

"No, it hasn't gone under!" muttered the man furiously, turning towards Glyde. "We're just…a little in the red this month, that's all! We need a little cash to make ends meet."

"Well, if you didn't only stock things you liked, maybe we wouldn't _be _in this mess!" snapped a glasses-wearing woman. She was shorter than the man, and there was a slight family resemblance between them.

"Both of you, shut up!" hissed a large suit of armor behind both of them. "I'm trying to listen to what they're saying!"

"What did you say, you tin can?" growled the silver-haired man. "What do you think you are?"

"Hey, no use squabbling until after the job's done, Teisel," Glyde said.

The woman glared at her brother, who sighed resignedly and turned his attention back to Von Bluecher, who was still speaking.

"As I am sure you are all aware, no one has visited this island and lived. No one, that is, but Professor Barrel and myself. Thirty years ago, we journeyed there and survived. Over the years, we have been asked numerous times what we saw there. We have kept that knowledge to ourselves…until now. Today, I intend to let you see it for yourselves!"

Von Bluecher took a step back as the shutters covering the windows behind him fell away, revealing the massive swirling cloud that covered Forbidden Island. The crowd gasped, as journalists snapped hundreds of pictures and reporters urged their cameramen to focus on the cloud.

---

Meanwhile, an airship stood, grounded, on an island far to the west of the Sulphur-Bottom. It was of a decent size, enough for a family of three to live in. Most of it was painted yellow, but the underbelly and tips of the wing were a dark, rich red. On its hull was written the word "Flutter".

Aboard the Flutter, Rock Volnutt was cooking breakfast. He was a nice boy, with messy brown hair and lightweight blue armor. He wore an apron over his clothes. He quietly let himself into the living room, where the daughter of Barrel, Roll Caskett, slept on the couch. He smiled down at Roll for a second before placing the plate of food on the coffee table and turning on the TV.

"Roll, breakfast is ready!" he said, nudging her slightly. "I made the eggs just how you like them!"

Roll grunted, and turned over, her pink pajamas rustling as the material scratched against the couch.

Rock nudged her again, holding the remote in one hand.

"Wake up!" he said, insistently, poking her in the side. He continued changing the channel until he got to one where the press conference was taking place. Roll slowly woke up and looked blearily at the TV.

"Oh," she mumbled, rubbing her eyes, clearly very tired.

"Don't worry, I'm sure the Mother Lode can't be found that easily," Rock said, trying to reassure her.

"Mmmn." she said, slowly sitting up. On the TV, Von Bluecher was still talking, gesticulating to give his points emphasis.

"Professor Barrel and myself are confident that the Mother Lode, which has been sought after by all mankind for numerous generations, does lie buried somewhere on this island."

The reporters applauded, but Von Bluecher spoke over them.

"That concludes my presentation. Are there any questions?"

A blonde reporter walked up to them. She wore glasses and held a notebook in her hands. Her hair was done up in a professional-looking bun and her button-down shirt looked like standard-issue reporters garb. She looked vaguely out of place.

"Mr. Von Bluecher," she said, seemingly choosing her words carefully. "Has your research given you any clue as to what the Mother Lode might be?"

"Now, that's an interesting question," Von Bluecher replied. "Personally, I believe it to be something that can be used for the betterment of mankind. Perhaps it is a new energy source, or new technology that will render our current energy source, the refractors, obsolete. Certainly it is something of tremendous importance."

"And, Professor?" the reporter asked, shifting her focus to Barrel. "What do you think?"

"Well…" Barrel started to say, but froze. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. It couldn't be possible…could it?

"Matilda?" he gasped. "You're…you're alive?"

Before she could answer, there was a loud commotion in the back of the crowd.

"That's her!" a very disheveled woman was screaming. "That's the one who stuffed me into a locker!"

The crowd began murmuring to themselves, all staring at "Matilda", who smiled menacingly before addressing everyone.

"Has it occurred to you that this great lost treasure might not be what you think it is?"

She slowly walked backwards to the large window.

"What happens to you is no concern of mine, but I will still give you a warning: What you call the Mother Lode is not a treasure at all. No, it is a catastrophe waiting to happen! Gatts!"

A ship flew up to the Sulphur-Bottom and shattered one of the large windows. The woman jumped out onto the ship, which hovered near the broken windows. Security guards charged forward, aiming their guns.

"Stop! Hold your fire!" ordered Von Bluecher, causing the guards to lower their weapons. Teisel, his sister, Glyde, and the suit of armor all stared at the mysterious woman through the gaping hole in the Sulphur-Bottom.

"Look at that, Teisel," breathed the sister. "Isn't it amazing?"

"I smell a mighty big treasure, Tron!" Teisel replied, grinning, the light of piracy in his eyes.

"Outta my way!" snapped Glyde, elbowing Teisel in the ribs.

"Ow!" Teisel cried as he nearly fell out of the window. He glared at the suit of armor as he barely regained his balance. "Are you trying to get me killed?!"

The mysterious woman cast her gaze on the congregation still assembled in the Sulphur-Bottom.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause such a ruckus…" the woman said apologetically. "Still, the child must not be awakened. There is no telling what will happen if she is. You have been warned!"

And she soared away from the mass confusion. Barrel stared at her retreating form.

"A child?" he whispered to himself. "A catastrophe? What do you mean, Matilda?"

---

Back in the Flutter, all was silent. Roll and Rock stared at the TV, openmouthed. They couldn't believe what they had just seen. Roll was the first to speak.

"That woman…" she whispered. "That woman was my mother."

"Wha- No way," Rock gasped.

"But.. she wouldn't do anything like that, would she?" Roll mused, speaking to herself.

Rock paused, staring at Roll.

"Well…" he started, but stopped.

"Hm?" asked Roll, looking up at him.

"Well, why don't we find out for ourselves?"

"I…I don't know…"

"Look, it's the only way to be completely sure."

Roll sighed.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. OK, let's do it. I'll get changed. Can you do the dishes for me?"

Roll ran to her room.

Rock smiled, and went to pilot the Flutter.


	2. Slow Chemical

**CHAPTER 2: Slow Chemical**

The Flutter had been flying for about three hours, and Rock was still nervous. This was one of the first few times he had piloted the airship and he was still learning. His palms were sweaty and his heart was pounding as he tried to navigate through a section of the sky lousy with ships. Suddenly, the Caskett family's pet robot monkey jumped in front of him, completely obscuring his vision.

"Hey!" Rock shouted as he tried to look over the robot, who was dancing. "Data, could you move, _please? _You're kinda in the way, y'know?"

"I just thought I could help you relax! Loosen up!" said Data in his high-pitched voice. His dance increased in tempo slightly.

"I- I really appreciate it, but could you sit still? Aggh!" Rock cried as he grazed a ship, causing the whole Flutter to shudder violently.

Data did absolutely nothing to help, by laughing shrilly.

"Look, Data, I'm serious!" Rock said, now extremely irritated. "Just go get Roll, and fast!"

"Boy, Rock!" squeaked Data, completely failing to get Roll. "I'm disappointed! I thought you were braver than this. Come on, pull through, you can do it!"

Rock was saved the necessity of ripping Data's head off by the timely arrival of Roll.

"Data, out!" barked Roll. "Go make lunch."

Data hopped down from the dashboard and ran out of the room.

"Oh, God, thank you," Rock sighed. "This new engine sure is something, huh?"

"Well, it cost a lot, but it was worth it, trust me!" said Roll. "By the way…thank you."

"What?" asked Rock, uncomprehending.

"Well, I was a little down before, worried that someone would find the Mother Lode before me, and what would happen if they did. I'm just…scared. I thought, if I found the Mother Lode, I'd be able to see my parents again, but…really…I'm just fooling myself. I have to accept reality, and face the facts. They're gone. They're both gone."

Rock sad nothing. There was nothing he could say. Roll's tone was sad, full of longing, but as she continued, her voice got stronger.

"But, when you said we should go see for ourselves, you reminded me of something my mother told me, a long time ago. She said a Digger should never give up hope! And I won't! My parents…the Mother Lode…well find them!"

"That's the spirit!" said Rock, trying to be upbeat. Roll giggled.

"So, what do you think we should do when we get to Gramps' ship?" she asked.

"Well, couldn't we land on Forbidden Island?"

"No, there's no way the Flutter could survive the snowstorm. We'll have to build a special kind of ship, one I read about in one of Dad's old diaries. He called it a dropship."

"Huh…Oh, by the way, what happened to my weapons?"

"I'm sorry, Rock, I'm really sorry!" Roll cried, suddenly looking very upset. "I had to sell them to upgrade the Flutter!"

"Hey, hey, calm down," Rock said. "It's all right."

Roll smiled, relieved. Rock turned back to the window, but stopped.

"Um, Roll?" he asked. "Do you smell something…burning?"

Roll paused to sniff the air. Suddenly, there was a loud shriek from the kitchen. The two minds in the cockpit reached the same conclusion at the same time.

"Data!"

"I'll go see what's wrong!" Rock said, standing up. Roll ripped a fire extinguisher off the wall and threw it to him. He nodded in thanks and left the cockpit.

The flame were raging, and the temperature in the hall was blistering. Fire blazed on the wallpaper, smoke pouring from the hole leading to the lower deck. Rock aimed his fire extinguisher and sprayed like his life depended on it.

_Well,_ Rock reminded himself, _it does._

He climbed down the ladder cautiously. The fire was even stronger here. Flames licked the walls and paintings, and the door leading to the storage room was completely ablaze. Rock sprayed and sprayed, causing the flames to fall back. He blasted them util they wee nothing but a few wisps of smoke.

Rock ran to the door of the living room.

"Ouch!" he cried as the doorknob burned his hand. He blew on it for a few seconds before reaching up with his foot and opening the door to the living room. As he stepped in, he was nearly incinerated as the fire caused the television to explode. Dodging the shrapnel, Rock sprayed and sprayed, calming the blaze, before finally focusing his attention on the kitchen. He kicked the door open to reveal a burning stove and Data running around with his tail on fire.

"Help!" Data shrieked. "Help me!"

Rock took that time to ignore how annoying Data had been earlier and blasted the flames with his fire extinguisher. Black smoke filled the small room, obscuring his vision. It filled his lungs and he started to cough. His eyes were watering. Closing his eyes, he pointed the extinguisher in the general direction of the flames and smothered them.

Gradually, the smoke cleared, the temperature dropped, and Rock opened his eyes to see a sobbing Data curled up in the middle of the floor.

"I was just trying to cook pizza…" Data blubbered.

Rock looked at the pathetic form of Data, and his heart softened.

"It's OK, Data," he smiled. He looked around the kitchen, trying to figure out the damage costs. The kitchen was completely destroyed. The dishwasher was blackened, the stove was melted, and the refrigerator was fused to the floor. Before he could get very far with his calculations, the intercom clicked on. It was Roll.

"We're here, Rock!" she sad. "We've caught up to Gramps' ship!"

---

Outside the Sulphur-Bottom, the sky was full of green ships. They were of average size, but next to the hulking form of the Sulphur-Bottom, they looked positively miniscule. Inside these ships were reporters and cameramen, reporting as the Sulphur-Bottom prepared to make its final descent.

"This is your live update!" one was saying. "Although the Sulphur-Button's hull was damaged in the attack by a mysterious woman, it has been repaired! We're expected to enter the maelstrom surrounding Forbidden Island anytime!"

The Sulphur-Bottom's hatches opened as she was talking, and it angled itself towards the storm. With a dull roar, it accelerated toward the swirling vortex.

"Preparations are complete! The crew ready! The Sulphur-Bottom is gathering speed, preparing to penetrate the cloud of mystery surrounding Forbidden Island! Following the attack hours ago, we were all asked to disembark and return to our ships where we stand watching Von Bluecher embark on his greatest adventure, and what may be humanity's greatest adventure! Will he succeed in reaching Forbidden Island? We'll continue with live updates throughout the day!"

"Final check complete, sir!" said a security guard to Von Bluecher, saluting.. "We are clear to go as soon as you are ready!"

"Understood," Von Bluecher replied. "Well, then, everyone, are you ready?"

Teisel, Glyde, Tron, and the suit of armor were the only reporters who had stayed.

"We won't let anything get in the way of a story!" said Teisel. "We're not like those other wimpy reporters!"

Barrel was standing next to Von Bluecher. He sighed.

"Are you really going to go through with this?" he murmured.

"I've told you already, I have to," Von Bluecher replied testily.

"Well, if you're going to do it, then let's do it."

Von Bluecher blinked.

"Thank you, Barrel," he said, smiling.

The Sulphur-Bottom's main engines were firing. It was headed straight toward the center of the island. From afar, the woman whom Barrel had referred to as "Matilda" watched, perched on her glider.

"It looks like they've ignored my warnings," she sighed.

"Weapons activated!" said the glider.

"Remember, I don't want them hurt!" the woman said.

"Understood."

Inside the Sulphur-Bottom, Tron was admiring the ship's handling with something close to reverence.

"The stabilizers on this ship are amazing!" she gasped. "You can hardly feel the wind!"

Her awe was interrupted by loud klaxons. The ship's alarms were wailing as red lights flashed.

"Unidentified object approaching from the air at high speeds!" shouted a guard.

"Activate the defense grids!" barked Von Bluecher. "No one will stop me! Not now!"

A guard hurried to obey his orders. Inside the control room, people were hammering buttons on the dashboard as the glider drew closer and closer.

"I've got a bad feeling about this…" Teisel muttered. He picked up a walkie-talkie. "Bon!" he yelled into it. "Order the Draches to go to yellow alert and stand by!"

The woman's glider started firing blasts toward the Sulphur-Bottom. They struck the massive ship, causing it to rock. Through one of the large windows, Von Bluecher was glaring at the woman, willing her towards the ship.

"Come on…" he breathed. "Come on, just a little closer…NOW!"

The Sulphur-Bottom fired a missile towards the glider. It went faster and faster, but the woman dodged just in time and the glider fired a concentrated blast towards one of the Sulphur-Bottom's main engines. There was a loud explosion, and the engine was completely destroyed. Smoke poured out of the hole that had been blown into the ship.

"Fire suppressors activated!" a guard yelled over the wailing sirens. "Engines offline! The escape pods are damaged! She's going out of control!"

"No!" screamed Von Bluecher, pounding the windows. "No! Damn it!"

"Now you've done it…" moaned the woman to her glider.

"Apologies, Mistress Yuna," said the glider, apologetically.

Suddenly, a large ship appeared behind Yuna and the glider. It was taller than it was long, and had very large cannons, which were currently pointed straight at her. A large skull was spray painted on the front of it.

Yuna glanced over her shoulder, and beat a hasty retreat.

"They probably won't crash for a while now," said Yuna as she soared away. "I hoped to stop them before they got this far…"

---

Back inside the Flutter, Rock stood rooted to the spot.

"Roll!" he gasped. "The Sulphur-Bottom is being sucked into that storm!"

"Gramps!" Roll cried.

"What should we do?" Rock asked.

"We can't take the Flutter in there, and we're almost out of fuel!" Roll moaned. "We'll have to land on a nearby island and see what we can do."

"All right," Rock replied. He went back to piloting the ship.

"There's not a lot we can do until we land there," Roll sighed, "but look what I found!"

She held out a plan for an oblong ship. The plan seemed extremely old, and had lots of little notes scrawled on it in an unfamiliar hand.

"It's a dropship," she explained. "Remember, I told you about it? Dad designed it a long time ago for landings in rough atmospheres. We can go to Forbidden Island in one. We'll need to go to a junk shop to get some parts. Let's go!"

She grabbed a hold of the steering wheel and made her way to a nearby island below.


	3. The Sound of Silence

**CHAPTER 3: The Sound of Silence**

The Flutter touched down just outside the city of Yosyonke, capital city of the country of Calinca. Snow blanketed the ground, and more fell from the sky, which was grey and cloudy. A chill breeze stirred the air. To the side of the Flutter was a large shed with a heavy-looking steel door cut into the front of it. A small shack stood near the gate leading out onto the tundra. An old railroad track stretched into the distance, barely visible under the snow.

The door of the Flutter opened, and Rock stepped out. Roll quickly followed. She had put on a warm-looking fur coat that Rock eyed with envy.

"That looks warm," Rock remarked, "and it looks good on you."

"Thanks!" Roll exclaimed. "I've been wanting to wear it for a while, but we've never been anywhere cold enough."

She jumped down from the deck. Rock noted with amusement that she was still wearing her customary short shorts, despite the low temperature.

"Come _on,_ Rock!" she called, and headed toward the city. Rock decided to follow.

The city looked like something out of a Christmas card. A large statue of a two-headed woman stretched to the sky. Quaint shops and houses lined the streets, their roofs covered in snow. A large cathedral was barely visible in the distance. Rock looked around the streets in wonder. Suddenly, his reverie was interrupted by a tug on his arm.

"We need to go to the junk store!" Roll insisted, pulling his arm nearly out of his socket.

"Wait, no, can't we look around?" Rock asked, struggling against Roll's yanking.

"There's no time! We need to go to the junk store as soon as possible!""Why?"

Roll stopped. Rock took advantage of this pause to press his point.

"I mean," he continued, "the junk store isn't going to go anywhere. This is a really nice town, and we've never been here before. Look at that statue, isn't that a nice statue?"

"I guess…" Roll said, hesitantly.

"I bet you didn't even notice it," said Rock, smiling.

"Well…"

"See my point? Just slow down a little. We'll get to the store, don't worry."

Roll sighed.

"You're right, Rock. I'm sorry, I'm just so excited. I'm _this close _to finding out about my parents. I'm just eager, that's all."

"Don't worry, I get it. But don't let that ruin your enjoyment of seeing the world. Who knows when we'll come back here?"

"Yeah!" exclaimed Roll. "Let's go exploring."

And they set off into the town.

---

The first door they walked to was a general store. It was a cozy building, filled from top to bottom with comic books and ice cream. What looked like boxes of engine oil and sunflower seeds lined the top of the shelf.

Rock had just paused to observe what a strange combination that was when he heard a voice behind him.

"You…you're a digger, aren't you?"

Rock turned around to see the shopkeeper, a young and pretty girl, staring at him with what looked like rage in her eyes, with just a slight hint of anger.

"Yeah, I am," Rock told her. The woman's eyes blazed.

"Get out!" she screamed, grabbing a mug of coffee from beside her. "There's nothing here for people like you!"

Rock quickly ran out the door. As it slammed behind him he heard the mug smash against it. Coffee seeped from the bottom of the door.

"She didn't seem very happy to see you," mused Roll.

"Yeah, I wonder what she has against Diggers?" Rock wondered.

They set out once again in the cold. Along the way, they greeted many people walking the streets. Everyone was extremely friendly to the newcomers, talking about the attractions that the town held. Roll wanted to go into the post office, so they stopped there. It was a small building, and the walls were covered in posters. As Roll asked about starting an account, Rock stared at the walls and was amused to see one poster that said "Your MSSEAGE sent by Snowman Mail!".

They left the post office and continued exploring. Near the large statue of the two-headed woman was a bar, which Rock told himself he'd visit later. In an alleyway, they found an inflatable duck. Rock wondered what the purpose of such a duck could be. It seemed to have no owner, and was left alone in the cold.

He kicked it. It quacked and bounced away.

Finally, they had finished looking around and decided to visit the junk store.

The store was slightly larger than the general store, and was just as packed with stuff. Parts stood on shelves, disorganized and jumbled. Behind a yellow metal grate stood a massive deactivated Reaverbot. At the counter, a man with a metal arm and trench coat was arguing with the owner, a large man with a gruff voice and a big beard.

"No way you're going on a dig, not with a body like that!" the owner was saying. "Who'll take care of Maria if something happens to you? Don't go, Joe!"

"Maria's been good to me," Joe replied, "but this is just something I have to do."

"But, you're a really good mechanic," the owner said, trying to appeal to Joe. "You could earn a good living fixing peoples' stuff. You should just settle down for a while."

But Joe wasn't listening.

"If something happens to me," he said, "look after Maria and her daughter, all right?"

He swept out of the store, nearly knocking Rock into a shelf full of assorted bits of metal.

"They never listen…" the owner sighed. He went to bustling behind the counter.

"That man…" Roll whispered to Rock. "I feel like I've seen him before, a long time ago…"

"Hi there!" interrupted the owner, suddenly realizing that he wasn't alone in the store. "Looking for something?"

"Um, yes, we are," Rock said, drawing the dropship blueprints out of his pocket. He placed them on the counter and the junk shop owner stared.

"Well I'll be damned!" he grunted. "Are you two friends of Joe's?"

"Uh, I don't think so. Why?"

"Well," said the owner, "I've seen this type of thing before, in his lab. Looks just like something he's been working on."

"Rock!" Roll gasped. "This must mean Joe knows my father!"

She tore out of the store.

"Roll! Wait!" Rock called, but she was gone.

The owner stared at Rock, before apparently strengthening his resolve and speaking.

"You want to know about Joe?" he asked. Rock nodded.

"Well," he continued, "that's what we call him. He lost his memory, see. No one knows who he is or from where he came, not even the girl who takes care of him, Maria."

"Where could I find Maria?" Rock asked.

"Hmmm," pondered the owner, scratching his beard. "Well, she's probably at the bar, but shouldn't you go find your friend?"

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks!"

And Rock left the store.

---

He found Roll standing outside the large metal shed that the Flutter had landed next to. She stood stock still, staring at the backdoor. Rock walked up the stairs to stand next to her.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Well, I was thinking," Roll said, slowly. "What if there's something more of my father's here, and not just the dropship? What if it was something that could lead me to him? But…I shouldn't get my hopes up. He's probably dead…"

Rock placed a hand on Roll's shoulder.

"No," he reassured her. "He's alive, don't worry."

Roll looked up.

"…Thanks, Rock," she sighed. "You're right, I can't give up hope. OK, let's go."

She banged on the shed door. It swung open, and they stepped inside. It was like they had stepped into the blueprint. The dropship standing in the center of the shed was exactly like the diagram: Oblong, made out of several sheets of metal, with a window in the door. Roll walked reverently up to it. Slowly, she stretched out a trembling hand and touched it.

"What are you doing?"

A shrill voice caused Roll to jump. Rock jumped as well, banging his head on a steel beam. He looked up, rubbing his head, and saw a small girl in a pink sweater standing on a walkway near the roof of the shed.

"Oh, hello!" said Roll as Rock rubbed his head.

"Why are you touching Daddy's ship?" the girl asked, accusatorily.

"Daddy?" Roll asked. "Do you mean Joe?"

"Yes!" shot the girl. "He's not here! He's in the ruins!"

"Oh, OK," said Roll, her smile faltering at the girl's sharp tone. "Um…Is anyone called Caskett here?"

"No!" snapped the girl. "I've never heard of anyone called Caskett!"

Rock had had quite enough of the girl's rude tone.

"Now, listen here-" he started, but Roll interrupted him.

"Thanks for your help!" she said, clapping a hand over Rock's mouth and dragging him out of the shed.

The girl just glared.

---

"What did you do that for?" grumbled Rock as the big door slammed behind him.

"We don't want to jeopardize anything," Roll explained. "This is the closest I've ever gotten to finding my parents."

"Well, I suppose we'd better go find the ruins," Rock said, and they headed through the gate leading to the Calinca Tundra.

The first thing Rock noticed as he stepped out on to the tundra was the complete absence of anything moving. It's not just that there were no Reaverbots, but the wind was still, the trees were still, there was no snow falling, no anything. It was just snow as far as the eye could see.

"Wow, it's kind of cold," Roll said. Rock looked at her incredulously.

"'Kind of' cold?" he asked. "You're out here in short shorts and a fur coat, it's the middle of winter, and you're 'kind of' cold?"

Roll shrugged. Rock sighed.

"Whatever, lets go," said Rock, and set off towards the ruin. His feet stomped on cold, hard ground as he ran past derelict pavilions and an old railroad track. Halfway down the tracks, he started thinking to himself.

_It would be fun,_ he thought to himself. _Roll is kinda cute when she screams…_

_No!_ snapped his inner angel. _No, you need to protect her, and scaring her is not the way to go!_

His conscience battled with itself for almost ten minutes before his mischievous side won in the end. Slowly, very slowly, he snuck up on Roll and grabbed her shoulder.

Roll gave an ear-piercing shriek before spinning around and slapping Rock across the face, causing him to collapse on to the cold ground.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Rock!" Roll cried. "You just startled me."

"It's OK," said Rock, taking Roll's hand and standing up.

They followed the tracks until getting to an old bridge, which they proceeded carefully across. Suddenly, the quiet was broken when five Reaverbots suddenly appeared from under the snow.

"Roll!" Rock yelled. "Stay where you are!"

Roll nodded, her mouth tightly shut, fear in her eyes as she stared at the advancing bots. Rock readied his arm-cannon and fired away, destroying some of them. Suddenly, he heard a scream and he quickly turned to see Roll cornered by two Reaverbots. Rock dashed over to one, picked it up, and smashed it against its companion. Both bots exploded in a pile of parts.

Roll bent down and picked up the refractors that powered the Reaverbots.

"These still have some juice in them," she remarked, pocketing the refractors. She looked up and saw Rock staring at her.

"Hey!" she said defensively, "It's not good to pass up free money."

Rock smiled, shook his head, and he and Roll entered the dark shaft. They walked for five minutes before reaching a door, which they went through.

"Close the door, Roll," Rock said.

As soon as she complied, he wished she hadn't. The darkness was crushing and absolute. Rock's heart sped up, and his palms started to sweat. He never really liked going on digs, not since Roll had accidentally gotten him lost in a ruin for three days. However, he continued to dig to help Roll in her quest to find the Mother Lode. Plus, there was always some money to be found in these caves.

Normally, though, there was some kind of light in the ruins. The lights here had long since burnt out, and with every tentative step, Rock felt the dirt, glass, and God-knows-what-else crunching beneath his feet.

"Hang on!" he heard Roll's voice a few inches in front of him. "I have a flashlight."

There was a loud clunking sound, and the beautiful face of Roll appeared in the darkness. She pointed the light at the walls, illuminating a door at the end of the room.

"Come on," she beckoned, and led the way to the next room.

Holding the flashlight aloft, she shone it around, gasping when the beam revealed a cluster of slithering Reaverbots it one corner.

"They haven't noticed us," whispered Rock. "Stay here, and I'll take care of them."

He walked very slowly towards the bots, aiming his gun. Suddenly, his foot kicked a rock, sending it flying into the group of worms. They scattered, and Rock blasted away.

"Stupid bots," said Rock through gritted teeth. "Stop moving so I can shoot you!"

Finally, he had destroyed them all. Roll shone her light around until they found another door. They proceeded through the ruin in the same manner, destroying Reaverbots along the way. Finally, Rock opened one more door and was nearly knocked back by a flood of light. When his eyes had adjusted, he saw a stainless steel room, with bright lights hanging on the walls. In the center of the room was an elevator.

"This looks newer than everything else," said Roll, looking carefully at the workings of the lift.

"Are you picking up any Reaverbots?" Rock asked.

"Yeah, a lot of them," Roll replied. "There's also a small life sign down there, too. It's weak, but it's there…You'll have to hurry."

"OK, I'm going to find him," Rock said. "You stay here."

He jumped on the lift and went down, down, down.

The lower level, Rock was glad to see, was fully lit. He opened the door in front of him to reveal a room infested with Reaverbots. He blasted away while running through the lower level, destroying many and pocketing the refractors that were left intact by the gun's blasts. At the end of one corridor, he took a left and found himself face to face with a very large Reaverbot. It glared at Rock with its one eye and started to march towards him. Rock unloaded on it, but the beast didn't falter. Slowly, surely, it trudged towards Rock who was still firing away. Rock started to panic. He discharged his gun faster and faster. The Reaverbot was almost upon him. It lifted a foot to squash Rock, but before it could stomp on him, its foot melted due to the heat of the blasts. It wobbled for a few seconds before toppling sideways, smashing into the wall. With a nasty crunching ripping sound, it broke in half, gears and refractors pouring out from its insides.

Rock wiped the sweat from his brow before opening a door at the end of the hall. An elevator took him even deeper into the ruin. When it hit the ground, Rock ran into the next room. The first thing he saw was the biggest refractor he had ever clapped his eyes on. It was massive, floating inside a barrier. Tearing his eyes from the refractor, he looked to the left and saw a hunched figure shrouded in shadow.

With a shock, he realized it was Joe. He was badly wounded, his normal arm gripping his stomach, his metal arm hanging at his side.

"Joe!" cried Rock. "Joe! Wake up!"

"No, don't go on," Joe whispered, his voice extremely weak. "It's too dangerous…"

"Don't talk," said Rock. "I'm going to take you to the surface."

"That would be good," Joe whispered, his breath coming in small, labored gasps, "but I've woken the big Reaverbot inside here. You have to stop him before he fully charges…"

His speech was interrupted by a bout of coughing. Blood sprayed the floor as Joe coughed and coughed.

"Joe!" Rock screamed as Joe collapsed.

"Rock!" Roll's voice came on Rock's headset. "Is he OK?"

"He's just passed out," Rock replied, "but he's been hurt badly. I have to take care of the giant Reaverbot in the next room, so come down and keep him alive while I take care of business."

And he opened the door into the next room.

The room was gigantic. It was almost unbelievable that a room this huge could even exist. Rock walked around, looking at the columns, wondering why there needed to be a room this big in the ruins. Then, he saw it.

_That,_ he thought to himself, _is a __**big**__ Reaverbot._

It looked like a robotic gorilla, blown up thousands of times past its normal size. Its long arms dragged on the floor as it stomped around, leaving craters where it walked. It roared as Rock walked up to it with gun raised, and swung one of its huge arms around. It smashed Rock full in the face, sending him flying across the room.

_OK,_ he thought to himself as he lay there. _Time for plan B._

Rock got to his feet, and rolled to one side. His speed was no match for the Reaverbot, which lumbered around, swinging its arms wildly. On the bot's back was a glowing red ball. Rock aimed at it, thinking that if anything looked like a target, that did. As the blasts hit it, the bot roared and swung, smashing pillars and anything else that got in its way. Rock continued to duck and roll, dodge and weave, all the while avoiding the arms and hitting the Reaverbot's weak point.

Finally, the bot had had enough. With one final roar, it stretched out its long arms and exploded, sending screws, refractors, and twisted lumps of metal flying through the cavern.

_Well, that's that,_ thought Rock, and left the room.

Roll was in the other room, tending to Joe.

"It'll be all right," she was whispering. "You'll be OK…"

"Get the refractor," coughed Joe when he saw Rock. "Otherwise, the machines will stay active."

Rock did so.

"Let's go," he said.

---

"He should rest," said the doctor. "Try not to disturb him."

He took his leave. Roll and Rock had taken Joe to his condo and called the doctor, who had checked Joe out thoroughly before binding his injuries and prescribing pain medication.

"Roll," whispered Rock. "Aren't you going to ask him about that dropship?"

"Well," replied Roll, hesitantly, "I don't know, that wouldn't be fair…"

"Yeah, but, this is the only way to figure things out!"

"But he's supposed to be resting!"

A loud cough interrupted their quiet bickering.

"Listen, you two," groaned Joe. "Take the ship."

"Oh, I'm sorry, did we wake you?" asked Roll, her voice concerned.

"No, no," said Joe. "I was listening to your conversation. I need to tell you something about me."

Roll leaned closer, desperate not to miss a word.

Joe coughed some more, then continued.

"A few months ago, some Diggers found me on the tundra, passed out, near death. They say I was stark raving mad, babbling about forbidden Island, and dropships. In my hands I clutched this plan. I don't know how I got it, or why I was there. The Diggers took me to Yosyonke, where Maria and her daughter have been taking care of me since. I've been trying to build the ship in the plans, and go to Forbidden Island, in the hopes that I'll figure out just who I am…"

"Is here any possibility," Roll said, leaning over oe and looking him in the eye, "that you could have known anyone called Caskett? How about my face? Have you seen it?"

"No, I-" Joe started to say, but started hacking and coughing again.

"OK, take it easy!" Rock said, glaring at Roll. Roll shrugged at him.

"Take my dropship," Joe repeated after he had calmed down. "I have a feeling you were meant to have it. The refractor should be enough to power it."

"All right, we will," Rock said. "Thank you very much."

---

As they exited the condominium, Roll ran off to set up the Flutter, and Rock wandered in the direction of the bar. A bell rang cheerfully as he opened the door onto a cozy wood-paneled room. Rock took a seat next to a drunken old man, who asked the bartender for another beer. The bartender was an attractive young woman, and Rock leaned closer to look at the name on her nametag.

"What are you looking at?" she asked. Rock's face went beet-red. The bartender giggled.

"I'm only messing with you," said the bartender. "My name's Maria, if you're curious."

"Maria?" asked Rock, the name sparking something in his mind. "Do you know Joe?"

The bartender changed from chipper to hugely depressed in an instant.

"It's hard," she sighed, "loving a man who's lost his memory. We've taken him in, given him love and a home, and my daughter loves him, but he still talks aou Forbidden Island…he's so mysterious…"

"Don't mind her," chuckled the old man next to Rock. "She's had a few, so take everything she says with a grain of salt.

Rock politely excused himself.

---

Inside the Flutter, Roll was hard at work putting the dropship in the hangar. She looked up as she heard Rock enter.

"It's done, Rock!" she called. "The dropship's in the hangar."

She walked to the upper level, coming face-to-face with Rock.

"Good," said Rock. 'We need to go rescue Gramps."

"I have to make a few adjustments," Roll continued, "but it should be ready soon. Go pilot the Flutter while I work."

Rock knew better than to argue with her when she was in full inventor mode, so he went to do as he was bidden. The Flutter lifted off from Yosyonke and flew into the distance, toward the mysterious island at the center of it all…


	4. Rage of the Winter

**CHAPTER 4: Rage of the Winter**

Three hours later, the familiar swirling storm surrounding Forbidden Island came into view. Rock stood on the deck of the Flutter, shakily twirling the steering wheel to get closer to the mass of clouds. The door behind him opened and Roll walked in.

"OK, everything's ready," she said, nudging Rock out of the way and grabbing the steering wheel.

"All right," Rock replied. He went to his room to pick up all his equipment then proceeded to the hangar.

The dropship stood, still oblong and still yellow, in the middle of the hangar. Rock stared at it, shaking slightly. He really didn't want to do this. He could think of many other ways he'd prefer to spend his time than by hurtling through a stormy sky in a metal sausage to crash-land on a Godforsaken iceberg that had a reputation for killing anyone who set foot on it.

But he had to do this, he reminded himself. He had to do this for Roll.

His resolve strengthened, he walked purposefully towards the dropship, opened the door, and stepped inside.

"Are you ready, Rock?" Roll's voice came through on his headset.

"Yes," he replied. _No! _he thought. _No, I really don't want to do this oh god make it stop no help m-_

Suddenly, the floor vanished, and the dropship was sent tearing through the sky.

"Help!" Rock was screaming. "Help!"

His cries were unheard. The dropship kept falling, faster and faster, and Rock kept screaming.

Suddenly, there was a crash, and all was black.

---

Rock was floating in the ether. He lay in the middle of complete and utter nothingness. He couldn't move, he couldn't talk, he could only think.

_It's cold out here._

His floating body gave an involuntary shiver.

_Where am I?_

He tried to look around, but to no avail. He seemed frozen in space, staring into the infinite blackness.

"…ock!"

A girl's voice floated to his ears in the darkness. He concentrated hard, trying to make out what this voice was saying.

"Rock!"

His name? But why would somebody be calling his name in this place?

"Rock! Can you hear me?"

Suddenly, it was like someone had turned on the world. Rock's eyes flew open and he saw the inversion of where he had just been. The landscape was white, completely white, and the voice was Roll, yelling at him through his headset.

"Rock, tell me you're all right!" she was yelling.

"I'm here Roll," he said. "I hear you."

"Oh, thank goodness," Roll sighed. "I was so worried."

Rock thought he heard her voice catch slightly, but ignored it.

"Yes, everything's fine," he said. "What do you need me to do?"

"I have Gramps' ship on the RADAR," Roll replied. "Try and find it. It looks like it's drifting."

Rock gave a noise of affirmation and set off into the snow.

He could barely see two inches in front of him. The raging snowstorm was too thick, too cold. He couldn't run without kicking up more snow in front of him.

"This is impossible!" he complained. "Roll, you're going to have to help me out by telling me what's happening."

"Roger that, Rock," said Roll's voice. "Right now you're clear, but I'll warn you if anything pops up."

Rock continued to press forward, fighting the thick blizzard. Suddenly, he saw some shadows in the distance. They lurched forward on two unstable feet. Rock squinted, trying to discern what they were.

"They look like people," Roll's voice said. "But how can that be?"

Slowly, eyes still peeled, Rock pressed forward. The shapes slowly became clearer.

Whatever they were, they were not human.

They looked like vaguely humanoid umbrellas. They were made of some dark gray metallic substance and didn't appear to have any form of offense. They simply walked, teetering, forward.

Cautiously, Rock moved closer to them. They appeared harmless enough, but Rock had been around long enough to know not to judge by appearances.

It was a good idea. As Rock got too close, the things unfolded, revealing a nightmarish array of whirring metal blades and insides. Rock yelled and jumped back, unloading onto the Reaverbots with all he had. The Reaverbots gave robotic screams, thrashing about as each blast hit them. With a final wail, they collapsed, quickly getting buried by the storm.

Rock ran past their remains, and into a large clearing. There was a howl behind him.

"Oh, no," he moaned to himself, as he turned around to see a Reaverbot wolf standing right behind him. The wolfbot howled again, and took a swipe at Rock, who ducked. The claw grazed the side of his face, leaving a shallow scratch on his cheek. Rock rolled to one side before firing a single, concentrated blast at the wolf. It hit the wolf's power core dead on. The wolf gave a strangled howl as it malfunctioned and fell to the ground, its refractor dropping onto the snow. Rock hurried to pocket it before it was buried by the snow.

Moving forward, Rock ran past the frozen, twisted remains of ships used by those who had tried to explore this island. He didn't stop running until he tripped, and fell against an orange ship. With a shock, Rock realized that a woman's body was trapped inside.

"Roll," he whispered. "Run a scan on the ship right in front of me."

There was a few seconds' pause.

"I'm not getting anything," Roll said, surprised. "Is there something inside?"

"Yeah, there's a-" Rock started to say, but stopped. "No, nothing."

"OK…" Roll's voice said, but she didn't sound convinced.

Rock continued walking, and found himself in a natural corridor caused by snowdrifts. He paused, wondering why there was a space between the two drifts. What would cause snow to build up like this, with a path in the middle?

A loud stomping sound behind him answered his question. Slowly, he turned round on the spot and dived to one side as a mammoth Reaverbot stampeded past him, trumpeting wildly. It tore down the path, straight into a ravine where it smashed to pieces on the floor.

_That was close,_ Rock thought to himself. _I have to be more careful._

He looked at the snow banks. The were little indentations spaced periodically in the sides. If he squeezed himself into one of them tightly, he could just barely fit. It might not work, but he had to get past here and push on the rest of the island.

He stood pressed to the hill until another Reaverbot had stampeded to its death, and then quickly darted to the first indentation. He pressed himself against the snow, hoping against hope that this would work. In the distance he heard to loud calls of the latest Reaverbot, and his heart started beating faster than it had ever had before. If this didn't work out, he could be killed. He listened as the stampeding grew closer and closer, his heart beating faster and faster. Suddenly, the bot blasted past his hiding space, stomping and trumpeting. Rock's hair blew around his face as the Reaverbot hurled itself into the ravine, destroying itself.

Rock dodged in this manner from hiding spot to hiding spot, until finally he made it into a clearing.

"Can you see Gramps' ship yet?" Roll's voice sounded in his ear. "It should be around here, according to the RADAR."

But Rock wasn't listening. In the center of the island, a massive purple diamond floated above the ground. Rock slowly walked up to it, and stretching out a trembling hand, touched it.

A bright light flashed as the diamond vanished.

"What did you do?" Roll asked, her voice frantic. "I'm picking up a massive energy surge! It might be a giant Reaverbot! Get out of there!"

Her voice was interrupted by a bout of static.

"Ro…" Roll's voice said, fading in and out of static. "Ca…you h…m…?"

A shrill noise caused Rock to wince as Roll's voice faded completely.

Then, a mountain exploded.

In its place stood a mammoth Reaverbot. However, it was far larger than any of them that had been hurling themselves to their doom in the corridor. When it gave a cry, the mountains trembled and an avalanche threatened to rear up and destroy all.

_Well, that would make my life easier_, thought Rock to himself sarcastically.

But it was not to be. The mammoth stomped forward, smashing things with its trunk. Rock jumped as the protrusion nearly knocked his legs clear from his body. Reaching out, he grabbed the end of the trunk. The Reaverbot bellowed as Rock stuck his buster inside and blasted away. The trunk split and curled up with a horrible grinding sound. The Reaverbot screamed mechanically, and stampeded in a circle. Rock fired again and again. Finally, the Reaverbot gave a loud, low wail and sunk to its knees. Within the belly of the beast, Rock heard explosions happening one after the other, like machinegun fire. The mammoth roared one last time before its body burst, sending oil and metal flooding out.

Rock was suddenly aware of a conspicuous absence of falling snow. Looking up, he saw the clouds slowly changing from grey to white, before vanishing altogether. The wind stopped, the storm had been calmed. Silence reigned. It was all rather unnerving.

A loud noise caused Rock to flinch. The Sulphur-Bottom, battered and beaten, slowly landed on the island. A door in the ship opened, revealing Barrel and Von Bluecher.

"Oh, has it stopped?" groaned Barrel. He was shaking violently.

"You're getting old, Barrel," chuckled Von Bluecher, seemingly unshaken by the ordeal. "That was nothing!"

"Showoff," Barrel harrumphed. "For all the money you spent on it, you'd think that flying washtub of yours would have held up better than it did."

"W-well," Von Bluecher coughed, "accidents happen! If they were meant to happen, we wouldn't call them accidents, would we?"

Behind them, Tron, Teisel, Glyde, and the suit of armor were staggering around, very dizzy.

"My stomach feels like it's been through a washing machine spin cycle," moaned Teisel. "How are those old fogies so chipper?"

"Uh, Teisel," said Tron, staring out of the window. "Look!"

The purple diamond had returned. It was spinning faster and faster. Inside, Rock could see silhouettes of two people. As the diamond melted, the silhouettes became clear, and the figures stepped onto the snow.

One was a man. He was tall, with long, light green hair and brown skin. He was attired in a white robe, and his skin was tattooed with ancient symbols.

The other was a young girl, with shorter hair of the same color. She had the same skin, the same markings. She was also completely naked.

If Rock had looked up at this moment, he would have seen the figures of Yuna and a man high upon a hill. Yuna stared down at the scene, and sighed.

"Well, that's done it," she said. "They've woken her up."

"The Carbons have decided their own fate," said the man. He was holding the body of a woman. "They have activated Mistress Sera. You've done enough for them, Yuna. You must relinquish the keys to them."

"No, Gatts, it's not enough," replied Yuna. "Why did the Master entrust that Purifier Unit with his genetic code? It was his job to hunt down and eliminate all aberrant humans, so why did he end up becoming he greatest aberrant of them all? There are too many unanswered questions."

"Mistress Yuna," Gatts said, turning towards her. "Surely you have enough information to reach a conclusion?"

"Think for a moment. What if the Carbons, which the Master loved so dearly, were more important than the Master System? What then?"

"That's impossible! The possibility of something like that happening is non-existent!"

"Can you be so sure?"

Suddenly, Yuna realized that the tall figure below was turning to stare at her.

"We'd better get out of here," she said to Gatts, who nodded. They jumped on their glider and flew away.

The tall man watched as Yuna and Gatts flew into the distance. Then, he turned to speak to the girl.

"It appears that Mistress Yuna does not wish to give you access to the Keys, Mistress Sera," he murmured

"What is she thinking?" Sera asked. "Her logic is as mysterious as was the Master's. Well, Geetz, you know what you have to do."

"Yes, Mistress Sera," Geetz replied. "The directive of this Unit is ensuring your safety."

"Very well," Sera said. She turned her head slightly to look at the Sulphur-Bottom. "Oh, look, one of the Carbon's ships. We must first try and find the keys to the Library. We can deal with the Master's genetic code sample later."

"Understood," said Geetz, nodding.


	5. The Interview

**CHAPTER 5: The Interview**

Inside the Sulphur-Bottom, Tron and Teisel huddled together, trying to make their bug work. Tron fiddled with dials and knobs while Teisel complained loudly.

"I wish we didn't have to eavesdrop in this other room," grumbled Teisel.

"I highly doubt they'd just hold a press conference and make it easy, Teisel," Tron replied icily, still messing with the receiver.

"Why is it that wherever we go, that blue kid follows us?" Teisel continued to complain. "I don't like it one bit! Next time I see it, I'll get him, or my name's not-"

"Shut up!" Tron hissed. "I'm picking something up."

---

"So," Von Bluecher was saying, "if we have possession of the four keys, we can unlock the secret of the Mother Lode and save Mistress Sera?"

"Correct," Geetz replied. "We are your ancestors, from the past. We are in this world which we never made. We simply wish to live out the rest of our lives in peace."

"Interesting," Barrel remarked.

"Of course, you will benefit from this as well," Geetz continued. "You will have access to all sorts of technology that had been lost to you. All the refractors you need will be right there at your fingertips."

"I understand," said Von Bluecher. "Leave finding the keys to us. We are not the only ones searching for the Mother Lode. It's a dangerous world out there, so I recommend you stay on the Sulphur-Bottom for now."

Tron and Teisel heard footsteps, which abruptly stopped soon after they had started.

"Hmm?" Barrel's voice asked. "What's this?"

A loud burst of static made the eavesdropper jump and wince. Teisel's eyes were watering.

"Ow!" he yelled.

"They must have found the microphone," said Tron.

"Well, hello," a new voice greeted them. Tron and Teisel quickly swung around to see Glyde and the suit of armor behind them.

"You!" snarled Teisel. "Have you been spying on us?"

"Spying on the spies?" Glyde chuckled, shaking his head. "We're supposed to be allies, Teisel."

"We're a unified front!" said the armor. "A team! We won't let you hold out on us!"

"Unified front?" asked Teisel, smiling sarcastically. "There's only two of you!"

"Well, they are veterans," replied Glyde. "And they know what they're doing, unlike _some _people I know who think that the more people you have working for you, the better you are."

"Why I oughtta-" Teisel started to say, but Tron cut him off.

"Now, now, Teisel, the more the merrier, right?" she asked.

"I suppose…" Teisel grumbled.

"Come on, we can ditch them whenever we feel like," Tron whispered to her brother.

"Yes, you're right!" said Teisel, firing up. "All right, let's get this show on the road! What we need to do is split up, take over any town that has a ruin nearby, explore those ruins, and find those keys! Look sharp, and let's go!"

"I'll see you around," said Glyde, smiling calmly and walking out of the room. The suit of armor picked up a walkie-talkie.

"Come in, Bola!" he said. "We have work to do."

He also left.

"Those two really get on my nerves," grumbled Teisel.

He and Tron exited the Sulphur-Bottom.

---

Von Bluecher looked up from the surveillance camera. He had heard and seen everything.

"Pirates, on the move already?" he sighed. "This complicates matters."

"Oh, stop putting on that act," Barrel snapped.

"Is it that obvious?" asked Von Bluecher, smiling.

"Don't you think you're just a little too old for playing around with pirates?" sighed Barrel.

Von Bluecher chuckled, but didn't answer. He turned to a security guard.

"Find Rock Volnutt," he said, "and bring him here."

"Sir!" said the guard, saluting and running out of the room.

---

Rock was lying on the bed in a guest room in the Sulphur-Bottom. Roll sat in a chair, writing things on a notepad.

"This room is so nice," she said as she scribbled a complicated mathematical equation. "That picture above the bed is really pretty."

Rock turned slightly to look at the painting in question. It showed some garden gnomes having a picnic in a purple field.

"You have really weird taste," Rock said, turning over.

There was a knock at the door.

"Come in!" Roll called.

The door opened, and a security guard walked in. He saluted.

"Mr. Volnutt, sir!" he said. "Von Bluecher wants to see you!"

"Does this involve getting up?" Rock asked, burying his head in the pillow.

"Get up!" Roll yelled, violently jerking Rock from under the covers. He crashed to the ground in a heap. The guard pulled him to his feet.

"This way, sir," the guard said, and left the room. Rock followed.

---

"Ah, Mr. Volnutt!" said Von Bluecher as the guard led Rock into the captain's cabin. "You're smaller than I expected. But that mustn't be too much of a liability if you successfully explored Forbidden Island."

"Don't get offended, Rock," Barrel whispered. "Tact is not exactly Werner's strong point."

"Anyway, I would like to ask you to help us find the keys to the Mother Lode," Von Bluecher continued, all business. "I'm sorry to have to drag you into this, but if I don't, the pirates are liable to find them first, and we can't have that. Please, will you help us?"

"Sure," Rock replied.

"Oh, Rock, I knew I could count on you!" Von Bluecher looked like he was ready to hug Rock and burst into song. To Rock's relief, he didn't.

"That's settled, then," said Barrel. "The first key is located on Manda Island, near Pokte Village. It's the smallest, so the pirates would probably strike there first."

"Once you've recovered the key, bring it back here," Von Bluecher said. "Thank you so much, Rock. You are dismissed."

Rock turned and left. He opened the door and smacked into Roll. They fell down in a heap.

"Ouch!" said Rock. "Sorry, Roll!"

"Oh, it's OK," said Roll, from under Rock. "I got tired of waiting, so I thought I'd listen with my ear at the door. We're going to Pokte Village, right?"

Rock didn't say anything. His mind was elsewhere.

"…Yoo-hoo, Rock?" asked Roll. "Are you still awake?"

"Huh?" Rock said, snapping back to reality. "Uh, oh, yeah, Pokte Village, right."

He stood up, and Roll did the same.

"I'll go look up Manda island on the map," Roll said. "Come back to the Flutter soon. We have to get out of here as soon as possible."

She ran off to the bridge as Rock stared after her. Then, he followed.


	6. The Things You Said

**CHAPTER 6: The Things You Said**

Rock jumped up the stairs to the Flutter. Yanking the door open, he walked into the bridge.

"Hi!" Roll greeted him. "I've charted our course to Manda Island. It isn't too far from here, actually."

"Great," Rock replied. "Anything else?"

"Well," said Roll, looking a mite nervous. "I kind of need some money to pay for repairs that the fire caused. How much have we gotten from our digs?"

"A ton," Rock said. "Take as much out of the accounts that you'd like."

"Thanks, Rock!" said Roll. "OK, let's head off to Pokte Village."

She grabbed the steering wheel, gave it a whirl, and the Flutter left the Sulphur-Bottom's hangar, heading towards Manda Island and the site of the first key.

---

Four hours later, the Flutter landed on Pokte Plains, just outside the village. Rock opened the door to see…

"Servbots!" he cried. Servbots were the adorable indestructible henchmen of the Bonne family. They were usually trying to help Tron Bonne commit some heinous crime, but they were cute, and not very good at their job. Rock didn't like what their appearance represented, but he enjoyed playing with them.

"D-don't come any closer!' one said in his squeaky voice. "You'll have to go through me if you want to go to the village! If you knock us down, we'll stay down! No, wait, that's not right…"

Rock dove at the one speaking, who shrieked and ran around in a circle. Rock grabbed him and gave him a hug. Dropping him, Rock ran to the next one.

"Where is your leader?" he asked, pointing at the Servbot.

"Miss Tron?" it squeaked. "Well, she's, uh, certainly not in the village! Nosirree, not there!"

"Thanks!" said Rock. He kicked the Servbot, which flew ten feet, stood up, and ran away crying.

Snickering, Rock walked up to the village gate. He grabbed a handle and walked in.

---

Hidden in the outskirts of the village, Tron Bonne sat in her giant crab robot.

"The blue boy is here, Miss Tron!" radioed a Servbot from a ship high in the sky.

"You've got the electronic jammer set up, right?" she asked.

"Yes Miss Tron!"

"All righty then. Let's have some fun…"

---

As Rock wandered to the center of the village, a giant crab robot burst through the trees and fences in front of him.

"Long time no see, Rock!" a familiar voice boomed from the loudspeakers.

"Tron!" said Rock, but he wasn't exactly surprised.

"You remember me!" squealed Tron. "I'm honored. I remember you, of course. You're looking as good as ever. Well, as good as you can with how that good-for-nothing blonde treats you."

"What do you mean?" asked Rock.

"I ran into Miss Blondie recently, and she told me all sorts of things. Did you know she's actually happy she doesn't have to go out on digs with you? She gets to sit back and relax in that cushy ship of yours, while you run around and get shot at. Do you really think that's fair?"

"Well, uh, I-"

"But wait, there's more!" Tron continued in her best Billy Mays impression. "Haven't you ever noticed that she's keeping some of the money you give her for upgrades and repairs for herself? You don't really think things are all that expensive, do you? She's skimming off the top, and you don't even notice!"

"Wha- Skimming?"

"God, you are _**so**_ thick! When I was talking to her, she was showing off all the fancy things she bought with all te money she stole from the accounts!"

"No! Roll would never say anything like that!" yelled Rock.

"How can you be so sure?" asked Tron, slyly. "You can't judge a book by its cover, you know. She may appear sweet and innocent, but how do you know what she's really like?"

Inside her robot, she had grabbed a separate microphone from under the dash.

"It's true, Rock," Roll's voice suddenly came over Rock's headset. "I was hoping you wouldn't find out about it…"

"What?!" Rock gasped. "Roll?"

"I guess it's too late now," Roll continued. "Don't bother coming home. You can just partner up with Tron."

Rock was getting more and more hurt and confused.

"You really don't care if I have him?" asked Tron.

"No, go ahead and take him," Roll said.

"All right!" exclaimed Tron. "Just wait until I get through with him…"

And the crab bot pounced. Rock rolled to one side, barely avoiding it. The crab's pincers lunged towards Rock as he blasted away.

"Stop shooting at her, Rock!" said Roll's voice in his ear.

"Huh?" Rock looked around and lowered his gun. "Stop shooting? But-"

He was interrupted as the pincer smacked into him, sending him flying backwards. Tron laughed.

"Don't look at that!" said Roll's voice.

_Look at what?_ Rock thought to himself. Instinctively, he glanced around, diving behind a house as a bomb whistled past him.

The crab bot stomped closer and closer, firing a spray of bullets that struck the house Rock was hiding behind. It went up in flames.

Rock dashed nearer to the crab bot and jumped on a pincer as Roll's voice echoed in his ears.

"Dinner's ready!"

He climbed, ignoring the voice.

"The ship is sinking!"

A bomb sailed past his ear.

"Don't call her names!"

Rock contorted his body to avoid getting shot.

"Put that thing down, you'll blast an eye out!"

He aimed his gun and fired at a gun that had emerged from the other arm.

"Don't forget to pick up some milk on the way home!"

Slowly, he continued to climb.

"_**I hate you, Rock!**_"

Rock's eyes swam with tears as his head pounded. He made it to the top of the robot, and the crab bot shook violently, fruitlessly trying to dislodge Rock.

As he stood there, a pincer flew towards him from above. Rock tried shooting it with his buster, but to no avail. It flew past him, wind whistling in his ears. Rock fired again, but the pincer remained undamaged. It was when the pincer flew into the air again that he got an idea.

Rock stood still, watching the pincer closely. It plunged downwards. Rock waited until it was almost on top of him before dodging to his right. The pincer smashed into the crab bot, tearing its insides out and completely destroying itself.

Rock ran as fast as he could away from the carcass, which exploded, sending shrapnel all over the village.

"Miss Tron!" squeaked a Servbot.

The forlorn form of Tron sat, huddled in the wreckage.

"Rock!"

Roll's voice once again came over Rock's headset. However, it sounded different, warmer.

"Roll?" asked Rock.

"Finally!" exclaimed Roll. "I couldn't get to you for almost twenty minutes! The transmission was blocked, somehow."

"Yeah, I knew you'd never say things like that," said Rock, relief audible in his voice.

"Huh?" asked Roll. "Things like what?"

"Oh…never mind," sighed Rock. He smiled as Roll informed him that she was making pizza for dinner. He walked off, conversing with her.

---

"Miss Tron," squeaked a Servbot, sadly. "Are you OK?"

"It was a good plan," said another, coming down in a ship, "but their faith in each other cannot be broken."

Tron sat in the wreckage, face buried in her hands.

"Look at him," she spat, tears streaming down her face. "Look at them, talking like they don't have a care in the world. Making a fool of me again, you little-"

She stood up, and got inside the ship piloted by the Servbots. Rock stared at her.

"Is there something wrong, Rock?" asked Roll.

"Wha-? Oh, nothing," replied Rock, as the ship took off into the blue.


	7. Soul of the Underground

**Chapter 7: Soul of the Underground**

After Tron's ship had disappeared from view, Rock surveyed the damage. The whole village was destroyed. Slowly but surely, people were emerging from their hiding places in the woods, staring at the smoking craters where their houses had been. One woman walked sadly to a burnt spot on the ground, remnants of what used to be the General Store. Villagers shuffled to the blackened spots on the ground, which was all that was left of their village. Then, they saw Rock, who was standing in the middle of the wreckage. The questions and accusations flew.

"I say!"

"Damn!"

"What happened?"

"Who did it?"

"Who are you?"

"Don't just stand there!"

"Tell us! Tell us!"

Rock held up his hands to silence the crowd, which had worked itself into a right state. It did nothing.

"Look at this mess!" a bearded old man was saying, sadly. "My poor, poor junk store, its roof is completely destroyed…"

"What about _my_ store?" a woman said indignantly. "At least your store is still standing. My store is completely gone!"

"What about our house?" shrieked another woman. "Gone, it's all gone!"

"You did this!" roared a short, stout man with a gruff voice. "You punk kid, you must have been with those weirdos from earlier!"

"It wasn't me!" exclaimed Rock. "I saved you from those pirates!"

"Pirates?" snorted the old man from earlier. "You expect us to believe rubbish like that? What's next, are you going to try and convince us a dinosaur with fire breath torched the grass?"

"No!" said Rock, miserably. "I only just arrived here!"

But nothing was working. The crowd seemed to be getting angrier by the second. They were glaring at him with such a fury that he felt as though he would be crushed by the intensity of it all. The gruff man started advancing towards Rock, fists raised, the intent to harm clear. Slowly, Rock backed away, his eyes not leaving the man's face. Suddenly, his foot caught one of the charred pieces of wood, and he tripped backwards, landing on his back. The man's face loomed over Rock, casting a shadow over the ground, blocking the sun.

"**Stop!**"

A woman's cry echoed through the ruined town. The man stopped marching towards the fallen Rock. Rock himself sat up. Everyone in the village turned towards the back entrance of the village to see who had called.

It was a woman. However, this was no ordinary woman. She was jaw-droppingly beautiful, with dark hair tied up behind her head and skintight clothes stretched across he curvy frame. She wore a pair of wireframe glasses that glinted in the sunlight as she walked towards the scene.

"What were you going to do to that young man, Mr. Redbrick?" the woman asked, a touch of steel in her voice.

"W-well, Mayor," the man stammered. "This boy here-"

"This boy here _what?_" asked the mayor, a steely glint in her eyes.

Redbrick mumbled for a few moments before falling silent and staring at the ground.

"That's what I thought," said the mayor. She smiled at the man's embarrassment before turning to Rock. Rock tensed up, but the mayor continued to smile.

"I'm sorry, Mayor," Rock started to say. She cut him off.

"Don't worry about it," she said. "Unlike these fools, I wasn't cowering with my head in the sand the whole time. I saw what happened, and I'm thankful that you showed up when you did."

Her smile grew a little wider, and her eyes gleamed.

"Besides, you're cute, so even if it was your fault I'd probably forgive you, if you did me…some favors."

"Oh," muttered Rock, very uncomfortable. "That's very, uh, ok then."

He stood up, staring at the ground. The mayor giggled flirtatiously before turning to the villagers.

"If you people weren't too busy running around like scalded ducks, you'd have noticed that this boy saved your necks," the mayor continued. "The giant robot girl came here and tried her hardest to kill him while destroying the town If not for his ingenuity, he'd be dead, and you guys would probably be dead, too! What do you have to say about _that?_"

The villagers said nothing. There was a lot of coughing and shuffling, but no one spoke up.

"Anyway, What's your name, and what do you want?" the mayor asked, looking back at Rock and bending over slightly.

"Well, I'm Rock, and I'd like to get into the ruins," Rock said, trying his hardest not to stare at the Mayor's obvious assets. The Mayor seemed aware of his internal struggle and giggled again.

"You're going to have a hard time," she said. "The doors are rusted shut. No one has entered them in a while… but I'm sure a big boy like you can open whatever you like."

She winked at Rock, who was getting more and more uncomfortable by the second.

"Well, uh, thanks!" he said, and quickly walked away. Before he exited the village, he heard the mayor call his name and he turned back to see her.

"If you survive," she called, "come over to my school! I have something there that you just might find interesting!"

Rock waved a hand in thanks, and, his ears burning, headed towards the clearing where the entrance of the ruins stood.

The clearing was surrounded by tall trees, with long, untamed grass standing about waist-high. The entrance to the ruins were tall, with rust- and moss-covered doors that were fused together with the ages. Rock walked up to the doors and tried wrenching them open. He strained and tugged, but to no avail.

_Time for Plan B,_ he thought, and started to charge his buster. When it reached maximum allowable charge, he shot a blast of plasma at the doors, which melted into a puddle of metal and plant life, revealing the dark tunnels that led into the heart of the ruin. Steeling himself, Rock walked slowly into the blackness inside.

---

Shortly after he had disappeared from view, a large suit of armor trudged into the clearing. He had a red feather sticking out of the top of his helmet, his armor a dark brownish-grey. His name was Klaymoor, and he worked with the Bonnes.

"There he goes," he observed in his gravelly voice. "Do you really think there's a key here, Bola?"

There was no reply. Klaymoor looked around, confused. There was a puff of smoke in midair right next to the side of Klaymoor's head, and the floating form of Bola appeared.

Bola was a man of medium height, dressed in what could only be described as a combination of Middle-Eastern styles and Oriental flair. All of his clothes were the same shade of dull brown, from his turban and veil that covered all but his eyes, down to his ruffled shirt and puffy pants. His shoes were turned up at the ends and a katana was hanging loosely by his side, encased in a scabbard.

"Hey, man, you say something?" he asked, blinking sleepily at Klaymoor.

"_Did you say something, Klaymoor?_" Klaymoor spat sarcastically. "Come on, Bola, get serious. We should be the ones to find the Mother Lode, not that little punk. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"Eh, not really," yawned Bola. "Listen, man, I think I'm gettin' too old for this. I just want to go home, get out of this life. I have a ton of money, enough to live the cushy lifestyle for a long, long time."

"Oh, come on, Bola, don't say that," Klaymoor pleaded. "You go after the kid in the blue while I go check another island. Come on, do it for me!"

"Yeah, whatever," replied Bola, flippant as ever. "Wouldn't want to get in the way of you and your _treasure._"

"Good," said Klaymoor, his voice returning to its usual gruff tone. He stomped off, and Bola vanished in a puff of smoke.

---

Rock ran down the stairs that led to the underground, towards a small square of light at the bottom. The stairs were dark, very dark, and Rock did not like it. The only light was at the end of the tunnel, and it emanated from some unknown source. Rock ran into the room, and looked around.

The first thing Rock noticed was a large pillar that was made out of some sort of blue stone standing right in front of him. It was extremely tall, with odd writing covering its face. A control panel stood at the base of it. Rock peered closer, reading what was written on the screen.

**Security System Accessed. Card Key Required to Activate Main System.**

Rock shifted his gaze to the rest of the room. Doors were spread at various points in the room, and the wall was covered with moss.

_Well, that explains the light,_ Rock thought. The moss was phosphorescent, emitting an eerie light that added an aura of mysteriousness to the already odd ruin. Rock shook his head slightly in order to clear his eyes from the spots of light that the moss was leaving in his vision, and walked toward one of the many doors in the room. It was marked with a strange green symbol that was glowing slightly. It also didn't seem to have a doorknob, or any other way to open it. Rock stretched out a hand to touch it, and it opened up into a hall.

Rock walked into the corridor, looking around. He strained his ears, trying to hear what could be coming. In the distance, he heard a strange rustling noise, as though many legs were skittering across the ground. It was more than slightly creepy. In front of him, the dim light emitting from the moss illuminated odd shapes and platforms. It was very…strange.

"Be careful…" came Roll's voice on his headset, making him jump.

"Sure, Roll, I'll try," he sighed. He walked forward slowly, trying to discern the shadows in front of him. They seemed to be moving slightly.

When he stepped up onto a raised section of floor, one of the shadows moved into the light. It was a roughly cylindrical Reaverbot, with a pointy hat. It almost looked like a tower combined with an old Japanese farmer. It had a little face, and would have almost been cuddly if it wasn't dangerous and made of metal.

Rock fired a bolt of plasma toward the Reaverbot, but the bot held up a shield. Rock had to dodge to one side as the blast was reflected back at him. Rock could smell burning hair, and he could tell that the shot had singed him as it flew past. Rock slowly stood up, and moved backwards slightly, trying to stay out of the range of the Reaverbot's optics, trying to find a weak spot.

There was a clanking sound, and the Reaverbot moved another arm forward. Rock suddenly found himself staring down the barrel of a gun. Rock dived to the ground right before the bot started firing. Flames shot out of the cannon, illuminating the hall and burning the moss on the walls.

"Dammit!" whispered Rock, angrily. He held out his buster and started firing towards the Reaverbot. The flames abruptly stopped as one plasma blast hit home. Rock jumped to his feet and fired rapidly. The blasts struck the Reaverbot, one by one, until the Reaverbot overloaded and exploded.

Rock walked over to the parts that remained from the Reaverbot. The shield was intact.

"Roll?" he said to his communicator.

'Hmm?" asked Roll's voice.

"I nearly got killed by some weird Reaverbot with a flamethrower and a shield. I managed to destroy it, but there may be more. I have some parts here. Could you help me make something that could help me?"

"Describe the parts, Rock. You know I can't see anything."

Rock did so. Roll was quiet for such a long time, Rock thought the feed had been lost.

"Roll?" he asked tentatively.

"Shh…" came Roll's voice. "I'm thinking."

He sat in silence for a few more minutes before Roll started giving him instructions.

"Pick up the shield and the flamethrower," she said. Her voice had become serious, commanding. Rock rushed to do what she said as she gave more and more directions. His hands worked as he welded, molded, and shaped according to what Roll was saying.

Forty minutes later, he had a rough-looking helmet in his hands along with something that Roll said would fire a concentrated ball of flame if he connected it to his buster. The helmet was made from the shield, and was the same ridged texture and gray color. Rock put it on. It was slightly misshapen, but it stayed on his head.

"Thanks, Roll," he said, gratefully.

"No problem. Do you think it will work?" asked Roll's voice.

"Well, the shield reflected by buster's shots, so I don't see why it wouldn't withstand the fire."

"OK, then, but be very careful, Rock…I worry about you."

"Thanks, Roll, but don't worry about me. I'll come back, promise."

Rock pressed on forward. There were no more of those shield-Reaverbots, but the odd skittering sound was getting louder and louder. Suddenly, Rock found himself at the edge of a shallow pit, and he found out what the sound was.

The moss was very dense on the walls, and it illuminated the square pit. Along the bottom of the pit, countless insect-like Reaverbots with six legs and single glowing eyes swarmed. They seemed to be coming and going from under the floor itself, appearing from small holes in either side of the pit. Rock shuddered; it was very unpleasant to think that just below his feet, thousands upon thousands of buzzing insect-bots could be scuttling around.

To make matters worse, there seemed to be no way around the pit as it took up the entirety of the section of hall.

Still, it had to be done. Swallowing hard, Rock jumped into the pit, firing at any insects that got too close. He ran through the pit, firing plasma at the ground whenever the insects decided to swarm around his feet. He had just made it to the end and was preparing to pull himself up when a tongue of fire erupted above him. Rock fell back down and stared upwards to see a shield-Reaverbot firing his flamethrower.

Thinking that this was as good a time to test the helmet as any, Rock slowly pulled himself up into the fire. The helmet grew very hot, but it held, splitting the fire blast in half. Rock tried firing a bolt of plasma at the bot while it was occupied, but the bot swung its shield just in time to block the blast. Knowing it was time to test his own flamethrower, Rock adjusted his buster and fired a single ball of flame towards the Reaverbot's shield. The fire pushed against the shield, causing it to glow before melting a large hole in the shield and rendering it useless.

The Reaverbot tossed away the shield and moved up to Rock with its flamethrower held high. Before it could fire, Rock sent another fire blast toward the bot, tearing through the bot and melting a large, smoking hole in the middle of it.

Kicking aside the bot's carcass, Rock ran through the door it had been guarding into a new room. A door was on the other side of the room, which had a strange floor that looked like netting but much more sturdy. Looking down, Rock saw a small pond, many miles below him. It made his head spin, so he closed his eyes and looked up. When he opened his eyes, he found himself face-to-face with a man floating in mid-air.

Rock jumped back.

"Hey, man," Bola said. His voice was very laid-back, and he appeared to be smiling underneath his veil. "Fancy seeing you here. Your name is Rock, right?"

"Yes…" said Rock, warily. "And who are you?"

"My name's Bola," Bola replied. He disappeared in a puff of smoke and reappeared behind Rock.

"Huh, you're younger than I thought you'd be." he mused. "Ah well. Now, I got nothin' against ya, but my partner _really_ wants to get his hands on the Mother Lode. So, kid, I'm gonna have to kill you. Nothing personal, you know?"

And he thrust his sword towards Rock. Rock barely had time to dodge; he hadn't even seen Bola draw it. Rolling to one side, he unloaded his buster in Bola's general direction. One blast grazed Bola's arm, and he vanished.

"You've got some fight in you," chuckled Bola, from behind Rock. "I like that."

Rock swung around and dodged backwards as Bola shot a ball of plasma towards him. Arming his flamethrower, Rock carefully aimed and fired a white hot fireball, which struck Bola square in the chest. Bola fell to the ground, coughing.

"Damn, kid, you're pretty good!" said Bola, impressed but still coughing. "Tougher than you look, at least. I'll be back once I catch my second wind. Try not to die before that, all right?" He smiled under his veil. "Of course, that might be easier said than done. See ya!"

He vanished, leaving behind smoke. Rock started to go after him, but he was gone. Suddenly, there was a flash of green in the corner of Rock's eye. Turning to see what it was, Rock saw that a symbol on the other door had started glowing. Rock ran through it, and found himself very high up in the air. Skidding to a stop, Rock looked down.

He was standing high over the room where he had entered the ruin. In front of him, there was a glowing control panel. Across the room was another door, but there seemed like no way to get there. Rock walked up to the control panel, and looked at the screen.

**Security System Accessed. Please Scan Handprint.**

Rock placed his hand on the panel, and the screen glowed with a blue light, scanning his hand.

**Confirmed. Level 2 Unlocked.**

Nothing seemed to have changed. Rock stared around, trying to see what had just happened. Looking down, he saw that a glowing orange symbol had just appeared on one of the doors below him. Not wanting to make his way back through the pit of insects and dark hall, Rock took a running leap off of the platform. He landed hard, stumbling forward a few inches but was otherwise unharmed. He ran over to the door with the orange symbol and opened it.

He found himself in a strange room consisting of a twisting catwalk above a metal floor. Odd flat Reaverbots scuttled about on many legs underneath the catwalk, trying to get at Rock. There was a conspicuous absence of glowing moss on the walls, which were made of metal and looked a lot more modern than other parts of the ruin. The only illumination was a faint glowing from the metal floor. A massive spike-covered cylinder sat motionless in the center of the room.

Rock ran on the catwalk, heading towards a door at the other end. Opening it, he barely had time to see where he had ended up before a ball of electricity flew towards him and struck his helmet, where it fizzled out.

The culprit that had shot the electricity was a tiny Reaverbot perched on a spinning blade. It was shooting projectiles everywhere. Rock leveled his buster, and blasted the mini Reaverbot, which melted under the heat of the plasma. Rock ran forward, taking care to avoid the whirling blade, and found himself face to face with a shield-bot. Rock barely had time to react before the Reaverbot blasted him with its gun. This time, however, the Reaverbot did not shoot fire.

An odd green mist came pouring out of the bot's gun, and it struck Rock square in the face. Rock rolled backwards and tried firing his buster, but to his dismay nothing happened. He tried firing again and again, but all he could hear was a depressing click as the buster failed.

_There must have been something in the mist the Reaverbot shot,_ Rock realized. _OK then, time to do this the hard way._

He leapt forward, tackling the Reaverbot. Rock struck out with his foot, smashing the bot against a wall. He stomped on the bot, again and again, until the Reaverbot was hopelessly mangled beyond belief. It twitched slightly, before shuddering and falling dead. Rock ran past it into another room. As the door shut behind him, he thought he heard croaking sounds, the exact sounds that frogs made.

Rock had never liked frogs. They moved too fast and jumped too high for his liking. Plus, the sounds they made were extremely annoying. Several times he had been kept awake at night because of loud arguing frogs. So it was just his luck that two frog-like Reaverbots were hopping straight towards him, croaking loudly. The only thing was, these were much larger than any frogs he had ever dealt with before.

One of them crashed into Rock's chest before turning tail and hopping away. Rock hooked up his flamethrower and fired shots towards the both of them. One blast struck home, melting a hole in the frog before it crashed, never to hop again. The other shot missed the other frog, which was still hopping away into the darkness.

Rock ran forward, past walls covered with moss and odd things that looked like bulky security cameras, firing at the frog's retreating form. The shots weakened the frog's metal exterior until one flew through it completely and fried the internal circuitry. The frog stopped abruptly, mid-hop, and crashed to the floor. Rock ran past it and into a room at the end of the hall. It was completely empty. Staring down, Rock saw a card key at his feet. He pocketed it.

He suddenly became conscious of a strange buzzing noise, coming closer and closer. Rock looked up, and was nearly flattened by a whirling disc that had come out of nowhere. It knocked Rock to one side, causing him to crash, face-first, into the ground.

"I'm baaa-aaack!" came a familiar voice from above his head. Rock spat out a mouthful of dirt and looked up. Bola was there, hovering in midair.

"Did you miss me?" Bola asked in mock concern. His veiled face broke out into an easy smile as he chuckled and vanished into a puff of smoke.

Rock heard the loudest croaking he had ever heard in his life. Slowly, he turned 360 degrees, dread filling him. He was completely surrounded by frog Reaverbots, and they all had their eyes focused on him. Rock started firing wildly with his flamethrower, but for every frog he killed, more appeared. They relentlessly hopped his way as Rock fired and ran. He backed away, firing blast after blast. Suddenly, his back hit solid wall, and he realized he had backed himself into a corner. There were only a few frogs left, and Rock fired at them as they advanced. He picked them off, one by one, until there were none left.

"Hey, good job, kid," said Bola, coming down from the ceiling. "Now I'll let you take a crack at me."

He sliced with his sword, striking Rock's head. The sword bounced off the helmet with a loud clanging sound, leaving Rock stunned. The helmet, however, was unharmed. Rock collapsed to the ground, trying to stop the ringing in his head. From his vantage point on the ground, Rock saw Bola's feet walking up to him. The feet stopped an inch away from his face.

"I'm sorry about this, kid, I really am," sighed Bola. He sounded genuinely upset. "I have kids at home, and I'd hate it if something happened to them, so I really don't want to do this. But…my partner really wants to get the key, and you just happened to be the wrench in the works, man. I'll see you again, some day."

He drew his sword, and held it high above his head. Suddenly, he looked down, and was greeted by the barrel of Rock's gun.

"Ah, crap-" Bola started to say, but was interrupted when Rock started firing, launching a spray of plasma into Bola and knocking him into a wall. Rock walked up to Bola as he slowly pushed himself up.

"Ow!" Bola groaned. "Man, kid, take it easy! I think I pulled something."

He made it to his feet and stretched out, rubbing his back.

"You may not realize it, but someday you'll be old, too," he continued, slowly rising into the air. "Relish your youth while you can, kid, because it's not gonna last forever."

Rock stared at Bola but didn't say anything.

"God, man, are you even listening to me?" Bola grumbled. "I'm just trying to help you out. If you aren't gonna listen, I'll just leave. Ciao!"

He vanished in his usual puff of smoke.

Rock sighed. Bola's vanishing act was getting extremely old. He searched the room one more time before leaving, making sure he hadn't left anything behind. Rock ran through the ruin towards the main room, dodging and firing at the few Reaverbots he had missed the first time around. He walked to the control panel in front of the large pillar, withdrawing the card from his pocket. He swiped it through a slot in the panel, and the panel beeped.

**Security System Accessed. Card Key Confirmed. Activate Main System?**

Rock touched the screen, confirming.

Suddenly, a loud rumbling came from deep within the ruin. Rock looked around, trying to find where it was coming from. There were loud bangs coming from rooms in the distance. Then, with an almighty crash, a pillar exploded out of the ground in front of the control panel. It reached the height of the platform overlooking the cavern, then extended, bridging the length of the room.

With a sinking heart, Rock heard new sounds of frogs croaking and insects scuttling around.

Things had changed.


End file.
